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WhatsApp Business limits: app and API, in one table

What the WhatsApp Business app allows (256 contacts per broadcast list, 4 devices, 50 quick replies) and what the official API allows (from 250 to unlimited people a day), with the official source for every figure.

Published
September 30, 2026
Last reviewed
September 30, 2026
Next review
January 1, 2027
Current

In 30 seconds

  • The app has small, fixed limits: 256 contacts per broadcast list, 4 linked devices plus the phone, 50 quick replies and 20 labels.
  • The API limits people, not messages: how many different people you can reach outside the 24-hour window in any 24-hour period. It starts at 250 and rises to 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited.
  • That limit belongs to the business portfolio, not the number. All your numbers share it. Since 7 October 2025, a drop in quality no longer lowers it.
  • Replying does not use it up. Answering someone who wrote to you in the last 24 hours does not count. What does have a cap is speed: 80 messages per second per number, 20 with coexistence.
  • Numbers and templates: 2 numbers at the start and 20 once the business is verified; 250 templates per account, and up to 6,000 with a verified business.

What limits does the WhatsApp Business app have?

The free app mainly limits how many people you reach at once and from how many devices. These are the limits WhatsApp's official Help Center publishes:

What Limit Detail
Linked devices 4, plus the phone Up to 10 with Meta Verified or Meta One, depending on the plan (4, 6, 8 or 10). They log out if the phone goes unused for more than 14 days
Contacts per broadcast list 256 You can create as many lists as you like. Only people who have saved your number receive the message
Business broadcasts Paid, per delivered message They also reach people who have not saved your number. Only in some countries, and Meta reviews them before they go out
Quick replies 50 They can include photos and videos
Labels 20 Meta is gradually turning them into "lists"
Catalog 10 photos or videos per item Each video up to 50 MB. Meta publishes no maximum number of items
Group members 1,024
Group calls 32 people Voice or video
Forwarding a message 5 chats at a time If it reached you as a forward, only 1 more group chat
Documents 2 GB per file
Videos 100 MB at 720p On a fast connection. On a slow one, 64 MB at 480p
Photos or videos at once 100
Pinned chats 3 And 3 pinned messages in each chat
Contacts, chats and messages per day No published limit Meta publishes none

Three things worth knowing:

  • Broadcast lists cannot be created or viewed on linked devices. Only on the phone.
  • Business broadcasts are something else. You pay for each message delivered within 5 days of sending, and the price depends on each recipient's country. If your number is connected to the API, they are not available.
  • With coexistence, broadcast lists are turned off. If you connect the app's number to an API tool, the lists you had become read-only.

How many messages a day does the WhatsApp API allow?

The API sets no cap on messages: it limits how many different people you can write to outside the 24-hour window, in any 24-hour period. Meta calls it the "messaging limit", and in practice it means templates, because templates are the only thing you can send outside the window.

Tier Different people in 24 hours How you get there
Starting 250 Every new portfolio starts here
First step 2,000 Verifying the business (you or your provider), or sending 2,000 high-quality templates to different people within 30 days
Automatic 10,000 If you meet the scaling criteria
Automatic 100,000 Same
Automatic Unlimited Same

How it is counted:

  • It belongs to the business portfolio, the Meta container that groups your accounts and numbers. All the numbers share it, and a single one can use it all up. A new number uses the portfolio's limit from day one.
  • It counts people, not sends. Three templates to the same person use one slot.
  • Only outside the window. If the customer wrote to you in the last 24 hours, replying costs nothing.
  • The period is rolling, not midnight to midnight.

Your limit is shown in WhatsApp Manager, under Account tools > Messaging limits.

How do you move up a tier?

From 250 to 2,000 you move up by completing one of three paths:

  • Verify the business in your Meta portfolio.
  • Have your provider verify it, if you were onboarded by one that offers this.
  • Send 2,000 delivered templates outside the window to different people within 30 days, using high-quality templates.

Meta then analyses the quality of your messages and approves or denies the increase. If it approves, the limit goes to 2,000 at once and you are notified by email.

From 2,000 onwards, scaling is automatic. It takes two things:

  • High-quality messages across all your numbers and templates.
  • Having used at least half your limit in the last 7 days. At 2,000, that means writing to 1,000 different people in a week.

If you qualify, the limit rises one tier within 6 hours. Since 7 October 2025, a drop in quality no longer lowers the limit: the "Flagged" and "Restricted" number statuses were retired that day. Quality still decides whether you move up. And a template that gets many complaints is paused.

The same step unlocks more numbers: at the start you can register 2, and that rises to 20 when you verify the business or reach the 2,000 limit.

What other limits does the API have?

What Limit Detail
Speed per number 80 messages per second Inbound and outbound combined. It rises on its own to 1,000 if the portfolio is unlimited, the number messages 100,000 people or more in 24 hours and its quality is medium or high
Speed with coexistence 20 messages per second, fixed For numbers used in the app and the API at the same time
Messages to the same person 1 every 6 seconds About 10 a minute. Bursts of up to 45 in 6 seconds are allowed, and are deducted afterwards
Registered numbers 2 at the start, then 20 Rises to 20 when you verify the business or reach the 2,000 limit
Templates per Messaging account 250, or up to 6,000 6,000 if the portfolio is verified and a number has an approved display name. Each language counts as one template
New templates 100 per hour per account Meta's review takes up to 24 hours
Editing an approved template Once a day, 10 times in 30 days Rejected or paused ones, without limit
Unused templates Archived after 12 months And deleted 28 days later unless you restore them
Images 5 MB JPEG or PNG
Audio and video 16 MB
Documents 100 MB Also the most a customer can send you
Stickers 100 KB, or 500 KB if animated
Files uploaded to Meta 30 days Files that arrive by webhook can be downloaded for 7 days
Customer service window 24 hours From the customer's last message or call. Outside it, templates only
Ad window Up to 7 days free If they write to you from a Click to WhatsApp ad, on their phone, and you reply within the 24-hour window. Until 28 September 2026 it was 72 hours
Free replies 1,000 a month per number From 1 October 2026. Details in the pricing guide
Groups 8 participants Up to 10,000 groups per number. Only for official business accounts, and not with coexistence
Blocked people 64,000 You can only block someone who wrote to you in the last 24 hours

A change under way. Since 23 September 2026, Meta has been splitting the WhatsApp Business account in two: a WhatsApp account, which holds the number, and a Messaging account, which holds templates and billing. It will reach every business by mid-October 2026. The limit on people stays with the portfolio and speed stays with the number. If several providers work on the same number, they share both.

Format limits, for anyone integrating the API

What Maximum
Text of a message 4,096 characters
Template body 1,024 characters
Template header or footer 60 characters
Template buttons 10 in total: at most 2 URL, 1 phone and 1 copy-code. Each label, 25 characters
Reply buttons in an interactive message 3, of 20 characters
Options in an interactive list 10 in total, in up to 10 sections. Each title, 24 characters
Management requests to the API 200 an hour per app and account; 5,000 if the account has a registered number
Registering or deregistering a number 10 attempts per number in 72 hours

What are per-user marketing limits?

They are a cap WhatsApp sets for each person, not for your business: how many marketing templates they receive from all businesses in a period. It is worked out for each person, from how many marketing messages they have read lately and how many messages sit in their inbox. Meta does not publish the figure.

  • There is no longer an exception for Europe. Meta used to exclude the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea. The current page, updated on 17 June 2026, lists no country exceptions. Assume it applies to you too.
  • Every delivered marketing template counts. If the person replies, the 24-hour window opens, and what you send inside it no longer counts.
  • If it hits, the message is not delivered and you get error 131049. Meta asks you to wait at least 24 hours before retrying. Retrying sooner can block deliveries to that person for up to 24 hours.
  • The United States is separate: WhatsApp currently does not deliver marketing templates to US numbers.

What happens if you go over a limit?

Almost always, the message does not go out and the API returns an error code. The ones Meta documents:

What happened What follows Code
More messages per second than allowed Rejected until you slow down 130429
Too many messages in a row to the same person Rejected; you can keep writing to other people 131056
The person reached their marketing limit Not delivered; wait 24 hours 131049
More than 24 hours since the customer's last message Not sent; you need a template 131047
Restrictions after messages were blocked or flagged as spam Not sent 131048
Templates in a category that is not theirs The account is limited for a period 131064
A new template under quality testing that ends up paused Held messages are dropped 132015

If a template gets many complaints, Meta pauses it for 3 hours the first time and 6 hours the second. The third time, it disables it. While it is paused it cannot be sent, but it is not charged and does not count towards your limit either.

If you reach the daily limit of people, Meta publishes no error code of its own. Because the period is rolling, each person stops counting 24 hours after your send. Replies inside the window keep working.

Frequently asked questions

How many messages can I send a day with WhatsApp Business?

In the app, Meta publishes no daily message limit; the practical cap is the 256 contacts of each broadcast list. On the API, you can write to 250 different people in 24 hours at the start, and to 2,000 once you verify the business. Replying to someone who wrote to you in the last 24 hours does not count. If you want to reach many people, the bulk messaging guide explains how.

How many people can use one WhatsApp Business account?

In the app, one phone and 4 linked devices. With Meta Verified or Meta One, depending on the plan, up to 10 devices, and the multi-agent feature lets you assign chats. On the API, Meta sets no number of users: the tool you connect decides, for example a team inbox like BlueMarlin. The options are in the multiple users guide.

Is there a monthly broadcast limit?

On WhatsApp, Meta is rolling out a monthly broadcast limit country by country. WhatsApp's Help Center puts it at 35 free broadcast messages a month. The Business app's help does not mention that limit for its lists. To go further, the app offers business broadcasts, which are paid.

Is the 250 limit per number?

No. Since 7 October 2025, the limit belongs to the business portfolio and all its numbers share it. Adding a number does not give you more people a day. What a new number does bring is its own speed: 80 messages per second.

Does coexistence change the limits?

Yes, in two ways. That number's speed is fixed at 20 messages per second instead of 80. And broadcast lists are turned off in the app. On top of that, groups on the API are not available for those numbers.

How long does it take for the limit to rise?

The step to 2,000 comes as soon as Meta approves the verification or the 2,000-template path, and it lets you know by email. The next tiers rise on their own within 6 hours of meeting the criteria.

Sources

Everything above was checked on 30 September 2026 against Meta's official documentation and WhatsApp's Help Center.

WhatsApp API (Meta for Developers):

WhatsApp Business app (WhatsApp Help Center):

Change history

  • 30 September 2026: first version.

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